The present invention relates to a portable terminal apparatus, and more specifically, to a portable terminal apparatus and an information processing method for displaying character information corresponding to map information about destination.
Conventionally, there are electronic notebooks, book type personal computers, and the like used as the portable terminal apparatus.
In such portable terminal apparatuses, various information such as addresses, names, birth days, names of working offices, and hobbies are written into the relevant storage regions, and can be managed.
In an electronic notebook, for instance, various information such as addresses, names, birth days, names of working offices, and hobbies can be easily written in a column or page unit.
In a book-type personal computer, not only character information, but also image information such as graphic information can be written into a storage region.
On the other hand, there are possibilities that the above-described electronic notebooks and book type personal computers are utilized for business purposes as well as to manage personal information.
That is, when these portable terminal apparatus are used in the business field, they are used to manage customers for salesman, to classify development scheme information for researchers and engineers, and also to classify technical information such as magazines and publications.
For personal use, these portable terminal apparatuses are employed so as to manage addresses of individual names, a home telephone number, and a telephone number of own office.
In a book type personal computer, a document is formed, statistical information is formed, and graphic information is formed.
Furthermore, as concrete examples of business use, such salesman belonging to, for instance, insurance firms and financial institutions input contract data and the like into book type portable terminal apparatuses which are brought into visiting destination.
However, in the above-described portable terminal apparatuses, even if either the character information, or the image information can be written, the image information corresponding to the character information, for instance, the map information, or the character information corresponding to this map information cannot be written, or displayed in connection with the map information.
As a consequence, in such a portable terminal apparatus, for instance, when the salesman belonging to the insurance and financial firms enter the contract data into an electronic notebook type terminal apparatus, map information functioning as a mark for visiting destination could not be written together with the contract data into the internal memory.
(1). As a result, in this conventional portable terminal apparatus, it could not be quickly recognized how to achieve effective visits by taking a proper visiting order for customers based on, for example, the map information and the contract data, and also which customer should be visited at the next time.
(2). Also, since the contract information about the customer to be visited could not be immediately recognized from the map information functioning as a mark of this customer in this conventional terminal apparatus, it could not be recognized at a first glance which customer has already made the contract.
(3). Furthermore, the salesman should bring back to his office such a portable terminal apparatus into which various information about the addresses and names of the customers have been written. Thereafter, other staff members should newly form the map information based on the address information of the customers by using the host computer.
The present invention has been made in an attempt to solve the above-described problems, and therefore, has an object to achieve that information about destination can be effectively and correctly acquired by forming a map of destination, and further list information related to contents of contract and exhibition information can be displayed based on the map information.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal apparatus capable of updating map information stored in a host computer via a data line, or a memory card.
A portable terminal apparatus, according to a first aspect of the present invention, is comprised of:
an information input unit for inputting information required to make a layout of an address position on a map, and also information about either a content of a transaction, or a personal address;
a map information display unit for displaying the information inputted from said information unit;
an information storage unit for storing information required to make a layout of a map of destination on said map information display unit, and also the information about either the transaction content, or the personal information;
an information reading unit for reading the information stored in said information storage unit; and
a display sequence determining unit for determining a display sequence of said information display unit based on a read signal read out from said information reading unit.
The information input unit of this portable terminal apparatus may include such a device on which a touch switch of a display screen is provided.
For instance, the customer number, the coordinate data, the map data, and the contract data are entered by touching this touch switch with a pen, or a finger.
The display sequence determining unit shown in FIG. 4 determines the display sequence of the map information display unit based on the read signal read out from the information reading unit.
A CPU is an example of this display sequence determining unit.
In a portable terminal apparatus, according to a second aspect of the present invention, equipped with an information processing unit for processing information such as image information, the portable terminal apparatus is comprised of:
an information input unit for inputting map information of destination, either information about a content of contract, or personal information into said information processing unit;
an information display unit for displaying the information entered from said information input unit;
an information storage unit for storing the information displayed on said information display unit;
an information reading unit for reading map information stored in said information storage unit;
a display sequence determining unit for determining a display sequence based on a read signal sent from said information reading unit;
a display sequence determining information display unit for displaying the display sequence determining information determined by said display sequence determining unit; and
a designation unit for designating a visiting order with a top priority on a map displayed on said display sequence determining information display unit.
The display sequence determining unit indicated in FIG. 5 determines to display a list of customer data designated in the visiting order.
Further, in this portable terminal apparatus, the information display unit may include a designation display unit for displaying the information on the map designated from a display screen of the display in accordance with the display sequence determined by the display sequence determining unit.
In the information display unit shown in FIG. 5, the display is made on the map designated from the display screen of the display in accordance with the display sequence determined by the display sequence determining unit.
In accordance with the portable terminal apparatus of the present invention, for instance, the map information of destination is inputted from the map information input unit of the portable terminal apparatus, and the display sequence is determined by the display sequence determining unit.
Also, in the portable terminal apparatus of the present invention, for instance, the map information is entered from the map information input unit by touching the touch switch on the display screen by using a pen, or a finger of an operator.
As a result, operability of this portable terminal apparatus can be improved.
In accordance with the portable terminal apparatus of the present invention, since the map information storage unit is arranged by the memory card, the map information written into this memory card is fetched into the host computer, so that the map information can be newly stored in the storage unit of this host computer.
Accordingly, the map information of the destination stored in the host computer can be easily updated.
In the portable terminal apparatus of the present invention, for instance, the display sequence information determined in the display sequence determining unit is transferred to the host computer.
In case of business use, for example, this host computer is provided at a branch office, or a head main office, so that the map information written into the storage unit of the portable terminal apparatus can be transmitted to the host computer in the on-line manner.
As a consequence, since the destination information such as a new contractor can be immediately obtained, customer management can be quickly performed.
Also, in the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention, the display sequence information determined by the display sequence determining unit is represented on the map information display unit, and the visiting sequence is designated on this displayed map by the designation unit.
In this designation unit, the visiting sequence is designated. For example, a designation is made in such a manner that a first visit is MR. A, a second visit is MR. B, and a third visit is MR. C. Also, a list of customer information such as names/addresses of customers can be displayed.
In the designation unit, a visit mark is designated. When MR. D is visited, for instance, the visit mark is designated and displayed, so that another list of the next visiting customers can be represented.
In addition, in the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention, for instance, the map position designated from the display screen of the display is registered in the information storage unit in combination with the customer data.
On the other hand, the list representation of the customer data is determined in the designated visiting sequence by the display sequence determining unit in the portable terminal apparatus according to the present invention.
In the portable terminal apparatus of the present invention, the customer data is displayed on the map designated from the display screen in accordance with the display order determined by the display sequence determining unit in the information display unit.
As a consequence, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the destination map information is manually entered from the map information input unit of the portable terminal apparatus. There is such an advantage that the display sequence can be determined by the display sequence determining unit.
The map information input unit has an advantage in that operability can be improved by entering the information by touching the touch switch displayed on the display screen with a pen or a finger.
Also, since the map information storage unit is constructed of the memory card, the map information written into this memory card is read into the host computer, and then the new map information can be stored in the storage unit of this host computer. As a consequence, there is such an advantage that the destination map information of the host computer can be readily updated.
On the other hand, the determined display sequence information can be sent to the host computer in the display sequence determining unit.
In case of business use, this host computer is installed at a branch office, or a head main office. Thus, the destination map information written into the storage unit of the portable terminal apparatus can be transmitted via the data line to the host computer, so that the destination map information can be quickly and surely updated.
As a result, since the destination information such as the new contractor can be immediately obtained, the customer management can be immediately performed.
Also, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the display sequence information determined by the display sequence determining unit is represented on the map information display unit, and the visiting sequence can be designated on the displayed map by the designation unit.
As a consequence, the map of this destination is formed, whereby the destination can be effectively and correctly acquired, and also such list information as the contract contents and the exhibition news can be quickly indicated on the image display unit based on the map information.
Also, the map position designated from the display screen of the display is registered in the information storage unit in combination with the customer data, so that both the map position and the customer data can be quickly read.
Furthermore, the list representation of the customer data is determined in accordance with the designated visiting order by the display sequence determining unit, so that the customers can be effectively visited.
On the other hand, in the information display unit, the customer data are displayed on the map designated from the display screen of the portable terminal apparatus in accordance with the customers order determined by the display sequence determining unit, so that the desired customers can be sequentially displayed on the display screen.